From a Correspondent
Chonburi, Thailand: Rayhan Thomas, runner-up at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) in 2018 will once again have a shot at the prestigious regional amateur event.
Indian national Thomas, Dubai-based before moving to the US for collegiate study and golf leads a seven-man squad to the 13th edition of the AAC at Amata Spring Country Club here from October 27 to 30.
The winner gets to play the Masters tournament and The Open and the runner-up gets a place in qualifying series for The Open.
Thomas, who played in the AAC four years in a row from 2016 to 2019, finished two shots behind winner Takumi Kanaya at the 2018 edition in Singapore.
Kanaya has since turned professional. Thomas has often said that if there is one tournament he desperately wants to win, it is the Asia-Pacific Amateurs, because it is so strong and opens many doors.
Shubham Jaglan was tied for 11th place at the 2021 AAC having flown in from the US where he is pursuing further studies.
It was the best performance by an Indian behind Rayhan’s T2 and a ninth-place finish by Asian Tour winner Khalin Joshi back in 2010.
The team includes the consistent Shat Mishra, Milind Soni, a member of the team at the 2021 AAC, and Aryan Roopa Anand, a two-time winner of the century-plus olf All India Amateurs.
Also in the squad is Krishnav Nikhil Chopra, headed shortly to the US for college golf and the son of former India cricketer, Nikhil Chopra.
Dubai-based Arjun Gupta, winner of the Abu Dhabi Amateurs and fifth at the Kenya Amateurs, and Shaurya Bhattacharya, sixth-place finisher at the Dutch Amateurs are the others.
Joint initiative
The AAC was created in 2009 as a joint initiative to develop the game by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, the Masters and The R&A.
Over the years, the AAC has served as a platform for some of the world’s top players today.
AAC alumni have gone on to win 23 PGA Tour tournaments, highlighted by Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters and Cameron Smith at The Open in 2022.
In 2021, Japan’s Keita Nakajima captured the AAC title in Dubai.
This year all eyes will be on the local hero Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat. He is 12th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and will be the highest-ranked player in the field.
If TK wins, he will become the first player from Thailand to top the AAC. The previous best finish by a Thai player was tied third accomplished by Tanapat Pichaikool at Shanghai in 2019.
In April this year, the 15-year-old Chantananuwat, became the youngest male player to win the Asian Tour’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup. He was also runner-up in the R&A Junior Open.
Narrow loss
Another player eager for to make his mark at the AAC is Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, who lost in a playoff to Nakajima last year after posting weekend rounds of 64 and 65.
Japan’s players will be looking to win a third title since 2018 after Kanaya and Nakajima (2021).
They will be led by no. 101 Masato Sumiuchi, seeking to follow in the footsteps of Kanaya, Nakajima and before them Hideki Matsuyama, who won back-to-back AACs in 2010 and 2011.
Matsuyama went on to become the first Asian-born player to win the Masters in 2021.
The venue, Amata Spring Country Club, was designed by Lee Schmidt and established in 2005.
The venue has previously hosted the AAC in 2012 and has provided the backdrop for the LPGA Thailand, the Thailand Golf Championship and the Royal Trophy team event.
Also read: Jaglan finishes T11; Nakajima wins Asia Pacific crown
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